Snapshot: Applying the Ephod

Yesterday the Lord led me to enter the number 642 into Eliyah's Greek lexicon.  Hmm, exciting stuff.  That website is such a good way to hone hearing.  And I found out what that meant, below:

--a girding on (of the ephod)

And I knew that it was time to put on my spiritual armor--that the Lord was encouraging me in that. In the Old testament, the Levites had the ephod, and today, every believer has the breastplate of righteousness.

"Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS"                                                       Ephesians 6:14

These are things that we ourselves are responsible to put on or apply to ourselves.  God doesn't necessarily do it for us.  We can apply to ourselves the Words of Truth and allow God to protect our body.  How are we protected?  Because we take on markings that set us apart.

And then today, I was reading 1 Samuel 30 (verses 6 through 8 below).  In it, David had just experienced a huge loss and was very much out of control.  But then a shift happened.  David found strength in the Lord.  He girded up and sought out God--to use some KJV terms.

Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

Then David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, “Please bring the ephod here to me.” And Abiathar brought the ephod to David. "

And David enquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.

Interesting, huh?  David applied the Urim and Thummim--a way of discerning God's will--to His problems so that He could overcome them.  That's how David mounted up.  That's how David recovered from such a tragedy.

We need to know that God is on our side.  We can't blame Him for problems or bad events.  We can't think He has made loss our only option.  Within the heart of God, there is a solution,  There is a way out.  David could seek God through inquiring of the Urim and Thummim, and we can seek God through inquiring of the Holy Spirit.  And He'll give us the right answer and the right plan.  Even the disciples in the book of Acts cast lots (Acts 1:26)!  So we can expect God to speak to us through whatever means the Spirit prompts us to use.

We can gird on the ephod today.  We can put on that breastplate of righteousness and know that God is good--that He's for us and not against us!  That's when we have confidence to inquire of Him. If you ask Him what to do, He'll give you the best solution.  He'll make your path perfect (Psalm 18:32)!  He'll provide a window of grace that enter in through and overcome.

Called Out

As Believers, we are all a part of His Body.  And we each have a certain calling that God has set in place for us.  But more than that, He has called us to be Holy and separate...to be sanctified.  He is the protective God who says, "Come out of her, my people!" (Revelation 18:4).  He wants us to be His and dedicated only to His purposes.  This has been a big recurring theme recently.  Below are some revealed messages and confirmations, though there are more in previous posts.  (Search the labels for 'Calling' to see those)

Confirmed 12/13:  I opened up Strong's Strongest Bible Concordance after seeing it on the bookshelf.  The words 'Numbers' and 'Interpretation' were quickened to me.  I knew it was from God....some things you just have to take by faith.  And then the wait began for God to build upon this passage.  With faith, it doesn't take long.  God is faithful to take us from strength to strength.

"Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them."  Matthew 13:12 (Hey, that's a reversal of the date.  I'll 'interpret' those 'numbers' that way...)

So God gives faith with His messages and then adds more and more layers of confirming signs to the original message.  He wants to make the righteous paths clear!  He has established our faith, and when we allow Him to activate it, He will always give us even more abundance.  He is the Holy One who says, "open your mouth and I will fill it"  (Psalms 81:10).  I didn't think much of this until later that day; see below for an explanation...

So,  Vanessa and I were talking later that day about a "Steps to Jesus" devo I had felt led to read that morning.  She had in fact read the same pages after me, as I left the pamphlet open.  The pages we read were under a subtitle called, "The Works and the Life'.  And it pertained to a specific calling.  It pertained to the Works of Jesus regarding His traveling ministry.  And it emphasized the fact that such a calling was 'set apart' from the ways of this world.  What a life!  Let me tell you, it's so exciting.  Hard, but exciting.

Vanessa then went directly into talking about the Levites.  She asked me, "Have I ever told you about the Levites in Numbers 18?"  Before I met Vanessa (and after that, as well!) the Lord often spoke to me regarding the Levites.  I've felt that He has given a similar calling to me.  Turns out, Vanessa has long felt that way, too.  God has both led us to "work for Him" so to speak, through different types of specific ministry.

Anyways, Vanessa mentioned numbers 18, and right away I remembered that 'Numbers' was the word I was guided to in Strong's Concordance earlier that day.  My thought patterns were quickened, and I understood what God was saying:

Our Work and Life (from the devo) has been dedicated to the Lord's specific "Interpretation" of a Levitical (from seeing the word "Numbers") calling.  God was reaffirming through all these synchronistic events that both Vanessa and I have been called out.  We have been called into a Life of dedicated ministry work, just as the Levites were.  Praise God!  He gives us the desires of our hearts, and His Way is the best way.

Confirmed 12/15:  Speaking of interpretations, The Lord gave an interpretation of tongues..."Come Holy Spirit".  Simple, but what a glorious thing to ask Him for.  When I first wrote it down, I accidentally wrote, "Come unto Spirit".    Come to Him; He's called us  His!  That's the message, anyways, that God made out of my guided mistake.

Confirmed 12/15:  Quickened eye-glance in the bible to, "you were entrusted" (Romans 6:17). We have been entrusted to a His calling.  We are to be slaves or righteousness!

Commissions

"So go and make disciples in all countries. Baptise them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."  

Matthew 28:19

Jesus gave his people this command prior to leaving us here on earth.  Many people today call this the great commission.  I believe that all yielding believers today are directed by the Holy Spirit to spread the good news and call others to Christ.  The Holy Spirit will always magnify Jesus, and we need to be watchful and seek out the lost on Jesus' behalf.  Each of us has a crucial role to play in the command Jesus gave us here.  Some are involved in organized ministry, some are not.  But we are all called to be His body, His voice here on earth.

This morning the Lord gave me a vision of water being poured all over my head.  I felt nice and clean!  First, we need to let the Lord purify our own lives.

"The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!'  And let the one who hears say, 'Come!' Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life."  Revelation 22:17

So we ourselves are called by the Lord, then we need to have a certain response.  We need to beckon others onwards!  We need to direct others on to His cleansing waters.

While reading the Word today the Lord directed me to 1 Chronicle 23:28.  Often God has spoken to me about my calling as a Levite.  So this was just one of many confirmations.   The Lord often gets me with a scripture like the one below, when I begin to get anxious over my future or career choices.  It is my desire to be involved in full time ministry.

"For their office is to assist the sons of Aaron with the service of the house of the LORD, in the courts and in the chambers and in the purifying of all holy things, even the work of the service of the house of God..."

Those with a levitical calling are directed to purify all holy things.  God makes us His people holy, and in our ministry we need to spur on others to allow God to purify them.  Sometimes exhortation isn't always fun.  But the way I see it, our Lord is to good to allow any sin or disobedience to hold back His favor and His love.   Let's pray that the Lord directs us into our chosen calling, whether that be organized ministry or anything else.